About 1,400 newly appointed county-level police chiefs are in Beijing for a month of training courses on preserving stability, in the sensitive lead-up to the 18th Communist Party Congress in the autumn.

Just days after apologising to a Hong Kong museum for losing several of its relics to a burglary, the Palace Museum yesterday issued another apology - this time to the public for the incorrect use of a Chinese character.

More than 80,000 people in 'high-alert' groups deemed a threat to security have been evicted from Shenzhen this year by officials aiming to achieve social stability for the Summer Universiade in August.

Mainland authorities are notoriously secretive and fearful of outside intervention in national affairs - so it should come as no surprise how close an eye they keep on the personal affairs of officials working for even vaguely sensitive departments.

Olympics sponsor Samsung has chosen 1,400 torch-bearers in China to carry the Olympic flame - for their 'positive contribution to society or their ability to overcome difficulties to inspire and motivate others'. Multi-lingual policeman Liu Wenli, 41, fits into both categories. We met him where he works atop Jingshan Park, overlooking the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.